Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1940
Barcode 533994
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 The Committee on Regulated Industries (King) recommended the
12 following amendment:
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14 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
15 Delete everything after the enacting clause
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17 and insert:
18 Section 1. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3) of section
19 95.11, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
20 95.11 Limitations other than for the recovery of real
21 property.--Actions other than for recovery of real property
22 shall be commenced as follows:
23 (3) WITHIN FOUR YEARS.--
24 (c) An action founded on the design, planning, or
25 construction of an improvement to real property, with the time
26 running from the date of actual possession by the owner, the
27 date of the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, the date
28 of abandonment of construction if not completed, or the date
29 of completion or termination of the contract between the
30 professional engineer, registered architect, or licensed
31 contractor and his or her employer, whichever date is latest;
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1940
Barcode 533994
1 except that, when the action involves a latent defect, the
2 time runs from the time the defect is discovered or should
3 have been discovered with the exercise of due diligence. In
4 any event, the action must be commenced within 10 15 years
5 after the date of actual possession by the owner, the date of
6 the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, the date of
7 abandonment of construction if not completed, or the date of
8 completion or termination of the contract between the
9 professional engineer, registered architect, or licensed
10 contractor and his or her employer, whichever date is latest.
11 Section 2. Subsection (9) is added to section 718.618,
12 Florida Statutes, to read:
13 718.618 Converter reserve accounts; warranties.--
14 (9) This section applies only to the conversion of
15 existing improvements where construction of the improvement
16 was commenced prior to its designation by the developer as a
17 condominium. In such circumstances, s. 718.203 does not apply.
18 Section 3. The amendments to s. 95.11(3)(c), Florida
19 Statutes, made by this act shall apply to any action commenced
20 on or after July 1, 2006, regardless of when the cause of
21 action accrued, except that any action that would not have
22 been barred under s. 95.11(3)(c), Florida Statutes, prior to
23 the amendments made by this act may be commenced before July
24 1, 2007, and if it is not commenced by that date and is barred
25 by the amendments to s. 95.11(3)(c), Florida Statutes, made by
26 this act, it shall be barred.
27 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.
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30 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
31 And the title is amended as follows:
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9:33 AM 03/31/06 s1940d-ri08-t01
Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1940
Barcode 533994
1 Delete everything before the enacting clause
2
3 and insert:
4 A bill to be entitled
5 An act relating to construction contracting;
6 amending s. 95.11, F.S.; revising commencement
7 periods for actions founded on the design,
8 planning, or construction of improvements to
9 real property; amending s. 718.618, F.S.,
10 relating to converter reserve accounts and
11 warranties; limiting applicability to certain
12 improvements; providing an effective date.
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14 WHEREAS, architects, engineers, and contractors of an
15 improvement to real property may find themselves named as
16 defendants in a damage suit many years after the improvement
17 was completed and occupied, and
18 WHEREAS, to permit the bringing of such actions without
19 an appropriate limitation as to time places the defendant in
20 an unreasonable, if not impossible, position with respect to
21 asserting a defense, and
22 WHEREAS, architects, engineers, and contractors have no
23 control over an owner whose neglect in maintaining an
24 improvement may cause dangerous or unsafe conditions to
25 develop over a period of years, who uses an improvement for
26 purposes for which it was not designed, or who makes
27 alterations or changes that, years afterward, may be
28 determined to be unsafe or defective and that may appear to be
29 a part of the original improvement, and
30 WHEREAS, liability insurance for the engineer,
31 architect, or contractor is more difficult and more expensive
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1940
Barcode 533994
1 to obtain the longer he or she is exposed to potential
2 liability after an improvement to real property has been
3 completed, and
4 WHEREAS, Florida currently limits the liability
5 exposure of architects, engineers, and contractors to a period
6 of 15 years after completion of an improvement to real
7 property, and
8 WHEREAS, liability insurance coverage is increasingly
9 difficult and more expensive to acquire to cover a period of
10 more than 10 years after an improvement to real property is
11 completed, especially for small and medium-sized architecture,
12 engineering, and construction firms, and
13 WHEREAS, liability insurance coverage for work on
14 residential construction projects, such as condominiums, is
15 generally not available to cover a period of more than 10
16 years after the improvement to real property is completed, and
17 WHEREAS, the increased cost of such insurance coverage
18 and liability exposure adds to the total cost of construction
19 and is ultimately borne by residential and commercial property
20 owners, and
21 WHEREAS, Florida's current 15-year limit on liability
22 is considerably longer than most other states, some of which
23 have adopted limits as low as 5 years and most of which have
24 adopted a 10-year limit, and
25 WHEREAS, the best interest of the people of the state
26 will be served by reducing the period of time an engineer,
27 architect, or contractor may be exposed to potential liability
28 after an improvement has been completed, and
29 WHEREAS, a recent increase in the conversion of
30 completed or partially completed buildings to condominiums has
31 caused confusion regarding the scope of the warranties
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Florida Senate - 2006 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1940
Barcode 533994
1 specified in sections 718.203 and 718.618, Florida Statutes,
2 and necessitates the clarification of these statutes, NOW,
3 THEREFORE,
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